Abstract: Objective To explore the application value of the simplified animal naming experiment (S-ANT) in the diagnosis of minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE).Methods 149 patients with liver cirrhosis who were hospitalized from August 2018 to June 2020 were selected as the experimental group. The basic information and laboratory indicators of these patients were collected within 48 hours after admission. The patients were divided into A, B, and C groups based on their Child -Pugh gradings. At the same time, 149 healthy medical examiners were selected as the control group. The Psychometric Hepatic Encephalopathy Score Test (PHES) was used as the gold standard for diagnosing MHE. The simplified animal naming experiment (S-ANT) were compared with PHES for screening the prevalence of MHE. Results By S-ANT screening 61 (40.94%) patients with liver cirrhosis were identified to complicate with MHE; The S-ANT score was the lowest among MHE patients (13.82±4.54), followed by grade 1 hepatic encephalopathy (HE) patients (14.33±2.94), patients without chronic hepatic encephalopathy (non-CHE) (18.99±4.61) and healthy control group (24.98±5.64), the comparison between the groups is statistically significant (P<0.05); S-ANT<17 is the best cut-off value for the diagnosis of MHE with a sensitivity of 80.3%, specificity of 67.0%, positive predictive value of 81.82%, and negative predictive value of 72.06%.Conclusion S-ANT is a more convenient and effective method for diagnosing MHE.

Key words: Minimal hepatic encephalopathy, Psychometric Hepatic Encephalopathy Score Test, Animal naming experiment